Braden Holtby was one of the biggest reasons that the Washington Capitals were able to reach Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals after scraping into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. In 14 playoff games, the 22-year-old netminder had a 1.95 goals against average and .935 save percentage, following up his strong work as a fill-in during the regular season, when he was 4-2-1 with a 2.49 GAA and .922 save percentage.

Because of his strong showing in big games at such a young age, Holtby has become a reason for the Capitals to believe in their ability to bounce back from having their four-year run atop the Southeast Division broken by the Florida Panthers. Well, not all of the Capitals, though Michal Neuvirth was far harsher in his words for other members of the team than he was when he made his comments about his fellow goaltender.

In an interview with iSportz.cz in his native Czech Republic, and translated by the Capitals blog Russian Machine Never Breaks, Neuvirth, expressed his belief that he can be the starting goaltender in D.C. and gave a slight to Holtby in the process.

"I'm starting the season sure that I want to play 40-50 games and I am really sure that I have the weakest competition I've ever had," Neuvirth said. "I will try to be the number one goalie this season. Finally!"

Neuvirth, 24, has gone 51-30-9 with a 2.65 goals against average and .909 save percentage in 108 regular-season games with the Capitals, and a 2.34 GAA and .912 save percentage in nine games in the 2011 playoffs.

As harshly as his comments about Holtby come off, Neuvirth's desire for the No. 1 job in Washington is admirable, and his assessment of Holtby as his "weakest competiton" is fair, as he explained.

"It's important to look at which players always were in tandem with me," Neuvirth said. "At first, the Russian (Semyon Varlamov) who was always in front of me because he was drafted higher and played in the NHL sooner. It was hard to get in front of him. But in the end, I played much more than he did. Last year, I had (Tomas Vokoun) next to me and I guessed in advance that he would probably get more space in the goal than I would."

Neuvirth played 48 games for the Capitals in 2010-11, his first full NHL season, while Varlamov played 27 and Holtby was in net for 14 games. After losing in the second round of the 2011 playoffs, the Capitals traded Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche and signed Vokoun. The Czech veteran played 48 games to Neuvirth's 38 during the regular season, but with both netminders suffering injuries, Holtby got his chance at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs, and made the most of it.

In the Czech interview, Neuvirth expressed his frustration at losing his job due to injury, but it was understandable that Dale Hunter would play the hot hand in the playoffs. In preparing for a new season, with new coach Adam Oates, it is equally understandable that Neuvirth would view himself as the top goalie in Washington, especially when he has played 87 more NHL regular-season games than Holtby.

"He sure is a great goalie," Neuvirth said. "But I can't compare him to Voky or Varlamov, that's what I meant. I'm definitely not saying that he is bad, not at all. I actually like the way he plays. But he is the worst of the three, that's all."

If that really was all, Neuvirth would probably be in the clear, but he is sure to get some flak for his comments on the Capitals' captain, Alex Ovechkin.

"He isn't what he used to be, that's for sure," Neuvirth said. "And if a team like ours wants to have a chance at the Stanley Cup, we need Ovi to be the best. We all expect that from him; he has to be the real leader."

At least Neuvirth went on to say that Ovechkin "is the right team player" and "will stay like that forever." When it came to Alex Semin, the Russian winger who left Washington to sign a one-year, $7 million deal with the division rival Carolina Hurricanes, Neuvirth started nicely, then unloaded.

"I see the leaving of Semin as a huge minus for the team," Neuvirth said. "But then again I think it may do some good. He didn't have the best work ethic. Maybe now when Ovi will be without him, he will put more into hockey. I think it's nothing that isn't well known. If Semin wanted to, he could have been the best player in the world, but he doesn't want to every day. And that's wrong."

It's clear that Neuvirth wants to be the best, but with his comments, he has put a lot of pressure on himself not only to win the starting job in Washington's net, but to excel in the job. With a statistically weaker start to his career than Holtby has had, that could prove to be a harsh challenge.